Friday, September 30, 2011

Living With or Without?

As you know I’ve
been living without wheat, cow’s milk dairy products and refined sugar for
about 15 years. People are often
aghast at this and say things like “I’m so sorry you don’t get to eat great
bread!” or “Wow, how do you live without pizza?” or “I just couldn’t give up my
morning muffins . . .” And they
always look so sad in their pity for my circumstances.

But I like to
think about all the things I DO get to eat! In fact, there are only a few things in this world of
beautiful food for which I cannot make or find suitable substitutions . . . In
fact, some of you know I’m about to finish my second cookbook filled with all
of the things that people with dietary restrictions can enjoy - including great bread, muffins and pizza!

Besides, we all
make decisions about the food we eat.
Some, like my daughter Angela, choose to eat as much vegan food as she
can for ethical reasons. Others
have dietary restrictions dictated by religion. While others choose foods based on their nutritional content
– a food as medicine approach to eating.

As a former chef,
a doctor of natural medicine and a self-proclaimed foodie, I love food for many
reasons. For me eating is a way to
nurture my body and provide it with the fuel it needs to obtain optimal health
as well as a way to connect with family and friends. So there is no option for my food to be bland, boring or
tasteless!

And neither is
there room for food to lack nutritional value!

Frankly, all
dietary restrictions open the door for lots of empty calories, especially GF
baking. Due to all of the starches
and refined flours generally used to replace the “glue” in gluten, GF baked
goods are often very high in sugar, cream and refined starches and very low in
whole grain fiber, vitamins and minerals.

The great news is
that with some thoughtful planning and experimentation those same baked goods
can pack a nutritional punch and still have your friends saying . . .

OMG!
That’s Gluten Free?

Changing the
nutritional profile of your favorite GF dishes is as simple as switching out
some of the starches in your favorite flour blend to ground nuts, beans and
naturally GF grains like teff, quinoa, oats, sorgum and legumes.

Take it a bit
further by switching sweeteners to stevia, brown rice syrup, black strap
molasses, honey, yacon syrup and agave nectar.

These steps alone
will fortify your GF baking with vitamins, minerals and fiber that turn a tasty
treat into a tasty treat that’s also a nutritional powerhouse!

Here is a GF
Flour Blend from my almost published cookbook to get you started. It’s nutrient dense, high in protein, tasty
and when triple sifted, is light and can replace your normal starch based
flours 1 to 1.

GF Bean &
Seed Flour Blend

This blend
utilizes ground beans and seeds making it a bit more like a whole grain flour.
It is much higher in protein, fiber and minerals than traditional GF
blends. Since the beans and seeds
in this recipe have fairly strong flavors, I like to use it with other strong
flavors like pumpkin, banana and maple.
Try it when baking a loaf of yeast bread for a nutty flavor.

Yield – 6
cups

3/4 cup
garbonzo bean flour

3/4 cup
fava bean flour

1/4 cup
sorghum flour

1/4 cup
teff flour

1/2 cup
potato starch

1 3/4 cups
tapioca flour

1 3/4 cups
organic cornstarch

Triple sift
and store in a glass jar with a tightly fitting lid in a cool, dark place.

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